SM and FOTM:  A Christmas Caper!
by Stone-Man85
Summary: It's a wonderful time on Christmas to be with the ones you care about...unforunately, for the Sailor Scouts and the FEllowship, there's no rest for them yet.
1. A Strange XMas Beginning

**Disclaimer: Stone-Man85 and SulliMike23 do not own Sailor Moon and its characters. The Fellowship of the Moon is Stone-man's property. Aaron Masters and Phoenix Blade are SulliMike's. All rights reserved. Also this story takes place after the FOTM Trilogy, so some things may seem a little out of place.**

**SM and FOTM: A Christmas Caper!**

**Chapter 1: A Strange Christmas Beginning**

_Christmas; it has great meaning to millions around the world. For Christians, it is the birth of their savior; for businessmen, it's a time to raise prices; but for millions of other people it means spending time with the ones you love and sharing that love with others. When Japan opened its shores to the world, people brought this joyous holiday with them and soon the country also picked up on the holiday and since then has been celebrating it like many others._

_For Aaron Masters, it will be his first Christmas outside the United States and in this country he now lives in. Throughout most of his life, he and his family celebrated Christmas like any American family…but without his mother. For Aaron, Christmas was also a sad time because he remembered the last Christmas his mother spent with him and it wasn't the same since she passed away. This year, however, he had someone else in his life to share this wonderful day with; her name is Ami Mizuno._

_A year ago, Aaron would never have anticipated that he would end up shopping with anyone other than his father and sister. This year, however, he would spend his shopping with a group of people who had made a great impact on his life. Before he moved to Japan, Aaron never had a true friend in the world. But in Tokyo, he had made at least sixteen friends in just a few months. But unknown to anyone but each other, he and these people hide secret identities._

_Aaron, four other young men, and a young girl are known as the Fellowship of the Moon; a group of warriors who were given the sworn duty to protecting the Earth and the entire galaxy. Ami and nine other young ladies are known as the Sailor Scouts who also protect the Earth and its people. Together with one other person, Tuxedo Mask, they protect the world in great secrecy._

_This Christmas, it would be no different than what they are used to._

**Master's Home Residence**

"Careful with those lights, Sarah." Aaron called from upstairs as he carried a box full of Christmas ornaments. It was basically another day at the Masters' home, but this time, it was a frantic attempt on keeping up with their traditions. Every Christmas, they would prepare to decorate the inside of their house with a few Christmas ornaments, as well as set up the Christmas lights. Of course, their dad always lost it as he would always be the one to rig them up.

"Don't worry, big brother, I'll be fine." Aaron's sister, Sarah said as she walked in front of him. She was a young girl at the age of with long black hair. She had the same color eyes that he had and her skin was slightly tanned as well, but not as dark. She was wearing a blue and white sweater with blue jeans and white socks. She was busy helping her family with the decorations, seeing as how today for them was Decorating Day.

"How can I _not_ worry? Remember what happened last year?" Aaron remembered what happened; Sarah nearly got electrocuted when she almost plugged in the Christmas lights outside in wet snow with a bulb missing. However, their dad nearly lost it as he was the one setting them up; the look on his face as he did it nearly caused him to commit murder on the lights. That was, until he became the one to get electrocuted.

"I do; but if I recall correctly, dad stopped me from plugging them in if he hadn't seen that missing bulb." Sarah grunted as she set the box full of Christmas lights down.

But Aaron then mentioned, "Yeah, but don't forget: he nearly lost it when he still couldn't get the lights rigged up right."

Sarah sweat dropped at that as she had a grimaced smile, "Please don't remind me, Big Bro. He was running around like a chicken without a head, babbling hysterically and losing it: Big Time. Plus, I thought he was foaming at the mouth for a minute there." She then looked at Aaron with great excitement. "Just think though, it'll be our first Christmas in Japan."

Aaron couldn't help but smile; it was indeed a good thing now that he had so many people who cared about him. "Yeah, but I can't help but wonder if Grandpa will visit."

"Well you won't have to, son…" Alan, Aaron's father said as he came down with the rest of the Christmas decorations. "He'll be visiting us tomorrow and spend Christmas over here with us."

"Really?" "That's awesome dad!" Aaron and Sarah said as they heard that piece of news. They immediately lit up at that piece of information, but Sarah lit up even more, seeing that she was still a kid.

"Well, let's not just sit here; we've got work to do." Alan said as he and the kids began decorating the house. And inwardly, he groaned to himself, 'Another year, and another battle with the light rigging…' Almost an hour after they started, Aaron heard the doorbell ring. His dad, growling at rigging the lights around the stairwell, and doing a pretty bad job at it, was growing more and more frustrated at this. Seeing as how he was impressively tangled up in them without even trying hard. He shouted hysterically, "SON! COULD YOU GET THAT FOR ME? I'M TRYIN' TO RIG UP THESE DARN LIGHTS!"

"I'll get it!" Aaron, sweatdropped at the awkwardness of his dad's little war, called as he went to the door and answered it. At a complete instant, his face lit-up when he saw the blue-haired beauty in front of him. "Ami."

It was none other than Ami Mizuno, Aaron's first friend in Japan, and later on, his girlfriend. She was dressed in a brown mini-skirt, a yellow turtleneck shirt with fluffy trim on the cuffs and neck collar, black stockings, brown styled boots, and a red scarf draped around her arms. Aaron couldn't help but blush at her; even though they had started going out, he couldn't help it that he thought she always looked cute.

Ami blushed at Aaron as well, seeing she was probably thinking the same thing about him. She smiled at him as she said, "Hi, Aaron." She said as she embraced him, which he gladly returned. They stopped for a moment to look at each other, but still held on to each other, as Ami smiled at Aaron, "I hope I'm not interrupting…"

"No, not at all, Ami." Alan said as he saw Ami in the doorway. The two teens turned to face him, only to have looks of shock and goofy surprise on their faces. Aaron's dad was wrapped up like a mummy with Christmas tree lights, and looked pretty fatigued from rigging up the lights. However, he smirked at the two as he said, "In fact, we could use your help if you don't mind."

Ami nodded as she replied, "Of course not; I would be honored to help you all.", and she went inside with Aaron and started helping the family with the decorations. After they finished, they began putting up the tree and its decorations; all that was left was the star. Now when Aaron and his sister were young, the two of them would get on his father's shoulders and put the star up in a chain that would always end up with hilarious results. This year, however, they had a little helper.

"Now how are we going to put the star up?" Alan said as he looked up at the tree, holding the said decoration and had an eyebrow risen up in thought. He thought out loud, "This would be a lot easier if Sarah was shorter and I could put her on my shoulders. But now…Hmmm."

Aaron looked over to the girls without his dad knowing, and shared a wink with both Ami and Sarah. "We'll worry about that later, dad. Why don't you go get the groceries?"

"Ok, will you three be alright while I'm gone?" Alan said as he got his coat and car keys.

"We'll be fine." The three said at the same time. With a nod, Aaron's Dad left and the three teenagers shared a look before whistling up the stairs.

Almost immediately, a little yellow blur came flying down and stopped in front of their faces. The creature in front of them was a small yellow bear-like animal with a lion's tail and a pair of wings. His name was Ceroberos, or Ceros for short; he was the one who revived the Fellowship of the moon when Aaron first met him. Up until two months after meeting him, Ceros had to remain hidden from Aaron's family under the guise of a stuffed animal. That changed when Sarah witnessed her brother and his friends transform into the Fellowship, protecting her from the evil forces of the Heartless and Nobodies. She swore she would keep it all a secret and was thrilled at the idea that she could have a real conversation with Ceros.

"You called?" Ceros said as he fluttered in front of the teens.

"Ceros, we could use your help for something." Aaron said as he held up the star. "We need to finish decorating our Christmas tree and since none of us want to risk breaking our necks trying to put this star on the top, we figured you could do it."

Hearing this Ceros crossed his tiny arms and turned sideways with a 'humph'. "What makes you think _I'm_ going to do that?"

Sarah looked at Ceros with a puppy-like pout. "Please, Ceros? Pretty please?" And then she made her lip quiver with her eyes shining.

Ceros turned away, cried out in agony and shouted in frustration, "Aww, come on! Not the Puppy Dog Pout!" He then turned away from Sarah as he stated, "Nope, forget it. It ain't gonna work on me anymore."

Sarah stopped and huffed to herself; that puppy-dog pout routine was pure gold to her and she knew that Ceros was a pretty tough cookie to crack…or so she thought. She then got a mischievous grin on her face as she smiled at Ceros, "I'll give you some Christmas cookies if you do."

_That_ sparked Ceros' interest. If there was anything that could motivate him, it was anything sweet. "Alright! Count me in!" He then grabbed the star from Aaron, with a little difficulty, and began flying up to the top of the tree.

After careful coordination, Ceros was able to place the star on top of the tree. Ami, Aaron and Sarah applauded lightly after he flew down and fluttered next to Sarah, Aaron went over and plugged the lights in. Almost immediately the entire living room lit up with colorful lights.

**Elsewhere**

Meanwhile, in the dark confines of a dark house; a dark woman looked through a mirror looking over hundreds of people going about their usual business around the world. She smiled wickedly as she continued to watch these people.

"Ahh, the beautiful planet Earth; so peaceful, so different, so…perfect." She sighed with a sinister glee. "Soon I will spread my will across the planet, and soon it will all be mine. But first, I must take care of these puny humans who inhabit this world." She then cackled as hundreds of ghost-like creatures began to fly all around to where she was. She looked to them as she ordered; "Go!" through the mirror to the city she had been observing, Tokyo.

**Two Hours Later**

Two hours after finishing the decorations at his home, Aaron joined Ami as the two of them joined up with their friends outside Shibuya Station. Aaron was dressed in jeans, black hiking shoes, and a red coat for winter over a yellow sweatshirt. They were indeed greeted by their friends outside the station. They were all grouped near a fountain talking amongst themselves about the usual things; the opposite sex, school, what they were planning on getting that special person for the Holidays, and so forth. Aaron got their attention with a whistle; almost immediately they all greeted the two with smiles and waves.

Frey was there waiting for them, along with a few others. He was dressed in a sandy yellow shirt, black jeans, a jacket with a few buckles around the shoulders and elbows. He smirked at them as he snickered at the two, "Well it's about time you lovebirds got here; I was beginning to think that you were…" Before the pervert could finish he got hit in the head by another boy's boken. "OW! What was that for, Jin?"

A young man with black neat hair, and glasses, and a calm look on his face answered, "I knew what you were going to suggest and stopped you before you would even let it out." Jin, the boy with the Boken, said as he adjusted his glasses. He was dressed in a black turtle neck shirt, with jeans, and a blue jacket.

"Well if he did suggest it, I would've hit him myself." A meatball-pigtailed, blonde said with a huff. She then pointed out to Jin as she pointed to Frey, "Like Aaron would stoop to _his_ level."

Frey then made a dramatic pose, while holding his heart. "Oh, thy heart has been shot; you wound me fair Serena."

"Watch it, Pheromone Boy, I'm taken remember?" The girl, Serena, snapped as she shot a glare at Frey, and waved a balled up fist at him.

After a slight verbal battle between Serena Tsukino, Ami's friend, and Frey Asapin, Aaron's perverted and first male friend in Japan, the others began discussing how they were going to handle the shopping. They agreed that being in a big group would mess things up, so they decided to split into groups and meet back at the station before going home.

Aaron and Ami were put into a group with Lita Kino and Ian Hayner. Lita was a brown-haired girl taller than Ami and Aaron; she was quite strong to boot and also had a motherly personae. Ian was the tallest of the male group with a military style haircut and the unusual combination of a blue eye and a green eye. Despite his former reputation as "Thunder Mountain Fists", Ian was actually a nice guy and proved he was more of a good friend than most. Aaron would often comment that he'd rather have Ian around if he didn't have the right kind of muscle for a tough job.

The others had all split up into several different groups and went to different locations in the city. Unknown to any of them, the small ghost-like creatures that had swarmed through the evil woman's mirror had begun to infect themselves into several different types of toys in several different toy stores or gift shops.

**Later On**

Meanwhile, in a nearby department store, the double date between Ian, Aaron, Ami, and Lita had split up to different parts of the store for their shopping. Ian and Aaron had taken it upon themselves to look for presents for both Lita and Ami. Lita was easy, considering everything Ami had told him about Lita; Aaron and Ian had found presents for her easily. Ami, on the other hand, was going to be a bit difficult for Aaron, considering that he was currently dating her.

"I dunno, Little Buddy…" Ian said using his nickname for Aaron, as the two of them walked through the Jewelry department. "Do you really think Lita will like that apron I got her?" he asked Aaron with a little uncertainty about the gift that he had bought for Lita.

"Trust me, Big Guy," Aaron said, using his favorite nickname for Ian, and placing a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. "If I know Lita, she'll love that apron. You remember seeing her old one don't you?"

"Yeah, no thanks to Pheromone Boy she couldn't cook some of my favorite dishes for a month." Ian grumbled, remembering the time he and the others were over at Lita's place; Frey had made the biggest mistake to accidentally dropping a piece of meat that was literally on fire on Lita's apron. It almost set Lita on fire, had she not discarded it and put the fire out in time. It took everything the guys and girls had to restrain both Ian and Lita from pounding Frey until his bones were completely shattered. Since then, Lita had to borrow an apron from Ian's mother.

"What about you, Aaron; any ideas on what you wanna get Ami?" Ian said, looking down at Aaron.

Aaron thought about it, and finally shook his head as he replied, "I don't know, Ian. It is my first Christmas here in Japan, and the first time I'm going to give presents to people other than my family and all…" he then took a huge sigh, knowing of the difficult task he was faced with, "…I really want to make Ami's present special."

Ian smiled at his friend's wistful proclamation. Ever since he met him, Ian always thought that Aaron was a tough guy. Indeed he was, maybe not as strong as him, but mentally he was. Aaron only had the fear of losing those he cared about, while he had a fear of women. Other than that, Aaron had almost no fear of putting his life on the line for others regardless of who they were. To Ian, that made Aaron stronger than any member of the Fellowship, including him.

Ian laid his hand on Aaron's shoulder, being careful not to be too rough. "Well, Little Buddy, I'm sure whatever you give her, she'll love it regardless." he smirked at Aaron as he continued, "As they say, after all, 'it's the thought that counts'."

Aaron smiled and nodded, "You're right, Ian. I'm sure I'll find something before Christmas."

"Hey guys!" The guys turned to see the girls walking towards them carrying bags. Lita smiled as she showed them her bags. "We finished our shopping here, how 'bout you guys?"

Aaron was about to say something, but that's when a loud scream from outside caught their attention. Being the secret heroes that they were, they knew that only meant one thing: trouble. So they all ran outside with their purchases and saw dozens of people running away from something that put them all in a scared fracas. When they looked, they were stunned to see what was chasing these people.

"Is that…a teddy bear?" Ian said incredulously as he stood there with his face agape. And indeed it was a teddy bear; a teddy bear that was jumping from anywhere that was in a high place, and nearly tried to pounce on anyone. The four teens were a little amazed by all this that one little toy could cause so much panic.

Ami immediately brought out her small blue Mercury computer and analyzed the little stuffed animal. After a few seconds she got the results. "It's a normal teddy bear, but I'm getting negative energy readings from inside it. To put simply, it's possessed!"

Aaron looked around them and noted that everyone that had been running from the giant toy had left. He then looked to see the small little toy spot them. Lita cracked her knuckles as she brought out her courageous side as she half smiled at the toy, "Alright then, let's put this bad toy away for good!"

And then, almost as if accepting Lita's challenge, the bear walked towards them, but not before it began to spasm a little. The bear began to shake and spasm as it jerked its head backwards. And then it shot its head forward, completely transformed, with yellow razor sharp teeth, and snake-like eyes. The ferocious appearance nearly scared the four teens. But its transformation wasn't done; it started to stretch and grow, until it was around seven feet tall in height, muscles bulged and tore through the fabric, revealing black and grey tentacles wrapped together shaping as the muscles. Out of its feet, shot out elongated black claws that went as long as a foot long, and black sharp spikes sticking out of the shoulders and back, giving the bear a hunchback of sorts. The bear was even more terrifying as the four teens knew it wasn't going to be good. Aaron looked to Lita with a look of both shock and worry as he sarcastically asked her, "You had to provoke it, didn't you?"

The beast then charged at the four; roaring an unearthly roar at them. It raised its left clawed arm and brought it down upon them. The group jumped out of the way just in time as it impacted on the pavement and blew chunks of it in every direction. After they recovered from watching this attack, Aaron looked to his friends as he stated the obvious of what needed to be done, "I think now would be a good time to suit up!" They all nodded and the girls brought out their transformation pens, while the guys raised their fists in the air; the fists to where their transformation rings were worn.

"**PHOENIX BLADE ARMOR ACTIVATE!"** Aaron called out. Suddenly, he was engulfed in flame as his body became one with it; he shouted out loud as he felt power going through every cell in his body changing him. An orange stream covered his body wrapping around him while flames covered him completely as his eyes and mouth glowed bright yellow. Then the flames wrapped around him like a cocoon, and then for a moment, the flames blew apart to reveal Aaron's transformation.

He was wearing a suit of armor that looked organic and seemed to articulate his body; kind of like the armor the Power Rangers wore in their first movie. The chest-plate was gold and orange; the mid section showed a red spot to where a six pack was and two orange armor plates protected the sides of the stomach. His shoulder guards and biceps were gold while the lining was orange; on his shoulder guards was a yellow inscription of the Phoenix with its wings opening up. His lower arms and gloves were articulated to be organic metal; the outside of the arm was gold while the inside was orange. His elbow was hidden by the end of the glove which had an orange colored curved spike sticking upward. The hands were in golden gloves that were held on by an orange wrist guard; the fingers and thumbs of the gloves ended at pointed claws. His thighs were armored; his outside was golden while the inside part was orange. He also wore a sort of lower torso guard to guard the sides and back of his upper legs, and it was held up by an orange belt with a golden pentagon buckle. It ended at his knees and at the tips of the fabric were three talons dangling on them, resembling the Phoenix's tail feathers. His boots were golden with the top was orange and shaped like a triangle going down the front and ending at the mid section of the lower leg. He also had knee pads that were golden on the inside with an orange outside. His shoes were golden tip and heeled with orange for the rest. On the leg of the boots were detailed with flame designs. He wore a scarf cape that was wrapped around his neck and nearly covered half of his right shoulder; it went down to his back and ended at his thighs; it was held in place by a small golden cape broach with the constellation of the Phoenix in orange. His neck was covered in orange cloth with a golden collar. His helmet was gold as well with detail in the front of it; the visor of the helmet was colored orange was shaped like a beak that ended at the nose of the face. The mouth guard was silver and covered under the chin as well to hide the entire face. On the sides of the helmet were three orange metallic feathers to where the ears were supposed to be. On the temple of the helmet was a golden gem imbedded into it. To where the eyes were supposed to be, darkness was there until two glowing yellow eyes opened.

"**MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER!"** Ami cried out. Her body was covered in a bright blue light as her clothes disappeared and she began to transform from her normal self, to Sailor Mercury. She twirled the pen around her, with waves of light wrapped around her body and formed into her uniform. As the light faded, she was now covered in her Sailor Scout outfit. After the transformation, Ami was now dressed in the same sailor-type outfit but it was white and blue; mini-skirt, translucent sleeves. The ribbon she wore on the back of her skirt was light blue as well as the one on her chest, but on the ribbon on front had a light blue heart broach on it. She also wore a tiara with a sapphire gem on it and had three sapphire earrings on each ear. She had a blue choker with a golden star on it.

"**TAURUS BARBARIAN ARMOR ACTIVATE!"** Ian Shouted. Suddenly in an instant, his whole body was shimmering with yellow electricity, covering his whole body. As it did, his whole body grew in height, and then chunks of Earth covered his body: his arms, legs, chest…every last part of him. He then smacked his fists together and then slammed his right fist into the ground. And in a huge blast of lightning, he was kneeling there in his newly formed armor.

His armor all seemed more mechanical than any of the others, as there were some parts that looked part machine. His armor was colored green, black, and metallic gray. His chest-plate was green, but the part that articulated the chest itself was shaped like a wide 'V' of some kind with two black lines vertically going down. The shoulders had sort of an electrical black cable connected into the shoulders, sort of making a shoulder buckle for the chest-plate to stay in place. On the upper back of his armor were two giant black horns pointing upward and holding in place his weapon, the Axe-Hammer. The stomach was colored green, but the six pack abs were metallic gray as the belt below it was colored black with a metallic gray octagon shaped buckle with the same bull insignia on his ring, in green lines. His shoulder guards were ball joints but on top of them was an armor piece that had three big spikes sticking out on the front, top, and back of them. His upper arms were green and metallic, but the part that had his triceps and biceps were metallic gray, and were separated in lines making them look like tubes lined up. His forearms were bigger; the inside was black, and had a green line going down it, while the outer part of his arm was metallic and green but shaped like finned ventilators. His hands were armored and green, but the fingers were black, and the knuckles were metallic gray.

On his belt was a lower torso guard, much like Aaron's, only the trim was green, and the trim was made of metal colored metallic gray and had on it a row of bolts in it. His thighs were green and the inside was metallic gray with lines going horizontal on it. The calves were green but the knee-guards were diamond shaped and colored green on the inside while the outside was black, and were attached to the lower leg. On his ankles were metallic gray ankle-guards; his shoes were silver, but the inside were green. On the tip of the toes were three spiked toes sticking forward on the bottom of the toe part. His neck was surrounded by a green, metallic gray trimmed neck-guard that was around the neck but didn't cover it, and in front of it was a metallic gray square piece that had three vertical slits in it. His neck was black but had two tubes to where the jugular veins should have been and went up to his head. The helmet was green and had two black horns on top sticking forward, but the opening to where the mouth and eyes would be was just a 'Y' shaped opening trimmed in metallic gray. It showed blackness in there, but showed only two light green glowing eyes as he looked at his opponents.

"**JUPITER CRYSTAL POWER!"** Lita yelled. Her body was covered in a bright green light as her clothes disappeared and she began to transform from her normal self, to Sailor Jupiter. She twirled the pen around her, with a cage of lightning and electricity dancing and twirling around her body, and in a flash of light, formed into her uniform. Her outfit was green and pink as the bow on her chest and back of her skirt was pink. Her shoes were lace up high heels, her earrings were roses, and on the bow on her chest was a green heart. On her tiara was an emerald incrusted in the center. She also wore a choker with a star on it.

All four of them went through their transformation stages and emerged from them. They each had now transformed into their hero forms Phoenix Blade, Taurus Barbarian, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Jupiter.

"Okay, you Yeti teddy," Phoenix Blade said as he cracked his knuckles. "Like Jupiter said, it's time we put you back in the toy box you came from!"

With that, Phoenix Blade's wings extended from his back, and in an instant amount of speed, he flew up and thrusted his fist into the demonic bear's chin. The giant mutated stuffed animal staggered a bit, but it then took its right arm and slammed Phoenix Blade down. Phoenix groaned a little, as he slowly started to get up, but then snapped his back a little, "Why did I think that would work?"

And just when the bear was about to shoot its claws straight through him, Taurus Barbarian ran up there, shouting, "OH, NO YOU DON'T!" and grabbed the bear by its claws, pushing it back. This gave Phoenix the time needed to get out of the way, as the two wild animals fought each other with brute force against brute force. However, the bear had gotten one of its arms free and was about to swipe at Taurus. But before the monster could slam into the pavement, Sailor Jupiter took this opportunity and prepped her attack. **"JUPITER OAK REVOLUTION!"** she shouted as her antenna on her tiara popped up. She spun around like a ballerina, and as she did, little green glowing leaves flowed in on an invisible wind. They spun all around her, until finally, the leaves launched at the bear with deadly and electrical accuracy.

When her attack struck the bear, it exploded covering the bear in smoke and dust. Sailor Mercury rushed to Phoenix Blade's side and helped him up. After thanking her, they all stared at where the bear was. "Did we get it?" Phoenix Blade asked.

He got his answer when the giant toy emerged from the smoke and punched Taurus Barbarian to a wall. When he hit the wall, he left a huge hole in his wake. Phoenix Blade cursed slightly as they dodged another attack from the Teddy bear. When Taurus Barbarian joined them, they took note of the damage they had done. The giant bear had some scorch marks on the make-shift fur and some holes where some bits of where the cotton stuffing would be, but now revealed more of the black and grey tentacles, bleeding a purple ooze of some sort.

"Darn, no matter what we throw at it, it's still coming." Jupiter said, smacking her fist into her palm.

Sailor Mercury looked at her computer and visor again as she analyzed the bear. After receiving the information she gasped. "Guys, whatever is controlling the bear, it's controlling it in its left ear!"

"So what do ya suggest, Ami?" Ian said his voice almost disembodied from his helmet.

She typed away at her computer, and after a few seconds, she found that the creature had only one weak spot. Albeit it was a small target, but it was the only chance they had. "We need to cut off the ear," She replied looking at the giant member of their team, "It's the only way we can stop it."

"Leave that to me, then." Aaron said as he reached from behind him; the compartment in his back opening as the hilt of his Buster sword appeared. He pulled his mighty blade out and readied his sword with only one hand. He then turned to the others as he took a few steps towards the bear, "See if you can keep it busy while I cut the ear off!" They nodded as his flame wings unfolded from his back and he flew upwards.

All at once, the two Sailor Scouts and Fellowship Knight launched their attacks at the bear distracting it, while Aaron flew behind it and got his sword at the ready. With a loud cry, he flew forward and with one swipe as he shouted, "PHOENIX WING!", then with his one swipe, a thin wall of fire was shot at the Bear's ear, engulfing the ear in red hot flames as it cut the ear off. The moment he did, the bear stopped moving; it began to spasm and shake, and then roared out as if it was dying. And then after it stopped roaring, it started to shrink and return to normal. With the task at hand finally finished job done, Aaron landed next to Ami as they stared at the now normal teddy bear save for the battle damage.

When Lita and Ian rejoined with them, they had turned around to access this situation. But then Lita turned around as did the others, and she bent down at the stuffed teddy bear returned to normal. "Who would've thought something like that could've become such a big problem?" Lita mused as she picked the tiny stuffed animal up.

Ami's computer bleeped alerting her of danger. "GUYS BEHIND US!!!"

They all turned to see a ghost-like creature charge at them with solid looking claws extended. Ian immediately acted as he grabbed his Axe-Hammer and shouted, "Back for more, eh? TAURUS HAMMER QUAKE!" the horns on his armor's back then shot out with electricity. Then he slammed his Axe-Hammer at the being, causing the creature's body to break up in fissures. When that happened, the creature then was shocked by 10,000 watts of lighting bolts that came out of the fissures, and that dissolved the creature into a puff of smoke."What was that?" Ian asked as he stared at where he cut the thing.

"I don't know," Aaron said stepping up to where the creature was, "But we better find the others before…" He was interrupted by his wrist communicator that Ceros had made for he and his fellow knights. He brought it up and answered, "Phoenix Blade here,"

"_Phoenix, we could use your help over here!"_ They heard a girl's voice over the device. It was recognizable as Phumika Fong, the Goddess of War Knight, to the Gemini Rangers.

"What's the problem, Phumika?" Ian asked looking over Aaron's shoulder.

"_You won't believe me if I told you…"_ The girl, Phumika, said with an almost disbelieving voice.

"Let me guess," Lita said into the communicator. "A giant stuffed animal is attacking the district you're in?"

"_Nooot quite,"_ Phumika replied extending the word 'not'. _"Try a big toy TRAIN!"_

"A toy train?!" The group echoed, with looks of goofy disbelief, and a few sweat drops on them.

The communicator beeped again, this time they heard Frey's voice. _"If you think a big toy train is bad enough, how about a giant doll and I'm not talking about the kind I usually think of either!"_

They then heard Serena's voice, considering it was sort of halfway in a panicky tone, _"All these toys are really running amok!"_

Ami then stepped into the conversation as she leaned in next to Aaron, "The toys are being controlled, guys. You have to find out where before you stop them!"

Another girl's voice entered the communicator. _"That's easier said than done, they're everywhere!"_

"Just sit tight guys, we're on our way!" Aaron said turning his communicator off.

**Later**

The train stopped and shrank down to its normal size as the ghost puffed into black smoke. The girls and guys panted as they saw it disappear. It had taken them almost an hour to find all the toys attacking the city and bring them back to their normal selves. First the teddy bear, then a giant doll, then an army of toy soldiers, and then finally a big toy train.

In the team, there were a few that had fought alongside Ami, Aaron, Lita, and Ian; both were either Sailor Scout or Fellowship Knight. The first one was a petite figure, indicating them to be female. She was dressed in a red archer shirt as well with a red armored chest plate strapped to her left shoulder. However, on the chest, there was a slight bump or two on it. She wore black combat pants suited for a martial artist, but seemed to have a red and black combat skirt that reached one knee and touched the hip on the other side. The sleeves were black but on the left arm was an enlarged brown glove with the knuckles, wrist, and end of the glove outlined in black. In her hands at the moment, were two jagged short swords attached to chains, which were wrapped around her forearms. The hilts of the swords almost looked like the profile shot of a deadly skull. Her right arm and hand had on a black armguard with a white glove, with the Yin/Yang symbol on it. She also had on a black belt that tilted over the other side with the Yin/Yang symbol as the buckle. And lastly, her head and face was covered with a red hood, trimmed black, with a black cloth to where the mouth and nose should have been. All that was seen of the face was a lone eye on the right, glowing black. This was Phumika Fong, the Gemini Ranger, the Goddess of War

"It's a good thing…I grew…out of toys." Phumika said as she panted, and sighed in relief from the hard battle that they had.

"Man, whoever sent those things to posses those toys sure did ruin a good day of shopping." Another blonde haired girl had stated; she had her hair down and tied with a red hair ribbon; her outfit was colored light orange and blue. Her skirt, glove's trim, and back bow were colored light orange. The bow on her chest was colored blue with an orange heart broach. She had on strap on high-heels and had an orange choker with a star on it. Her tiara had in it a topaz gem incrusted into it. She too had on a single topaz earring on each ear. She was Mina, otherwise known as Sailor Venus.

Accompanying them was a figure clad in what appeared to be Arabic armor of some kind; possibly of bandit design. It was a leather based chest and stomach guard wrapped around him, colored yellow, with brown leather belts strapped on him. His arms were in yellow sleeves but his forearms were covered in armor. His left shoulder had a large shoulder guard and his left forearm had an arm guard made of brown leather belts with buckles on them and a sash to wrap around the stomach area. His right arm had a smaller shoulder guard and a brown metallic arm guard. But both hands had the same fingerless brown leather gloves, but they did have yellow fingers and thumbs on them. He wore three belts that connected together that held on a yellow leg guard. On the belts was a dagger holder that held a peculiar dagger that seemed to be made of metal and glass, and in the glass was sand. Along with the dagger, he also had a jagged gold chain wrapped in a loop and strapped to his belt. His Arabian pants were brown and baggy and on each leg were two leather straps that cries-crossed each other like an X. His boots were brown but had on them ace shaped knee guards that were yellow with brown lining on them. He also had on them ankle and hinge guards that were yellow as well. And finally his face was covered in a shawl that covered his head and wrapped around his neck like a scarf. He also had a silver mouth guard on him, but you couldn't see his face, only his orange eyes glowing. He wore a pendant on the neck of the shawl, and inscribed on it was an hourglass of some design. On his back were strapped on two long yellow and brown scimitars with strange yellow glowing vine like designs on them. He was known as the Persian Prince, but to everyone else, he was Frey Asapin.

With him was another knight, the Knight's armor was styled as samurai armor colored blue, white, and black. The chest plate was blue, but on the sides of the chest plate were two black eyes carved into it; the mid section showed a black spot to where a six pack was and two blue plates protected the sides of the stomach. His upper arm guards were shaped like that of traditional samurai armor, except they were shaped triangular, and pointed upward like vents; and on them was an inscription of Pisces the Fish jumping out of the water. On the back of the chest armor were two spike tails dropping downward like a cape. Under the upper armor was a blue and white kimono top. His forearm guards were blue on the outside and black on the inside, but the wrist guard was white. The tip of the elbow was covered in a spiked curve of the forearm guard. His gloves were traditional samurai hand guards colored blue while the glove on the inside was black. He was wearing black kimono battle pants, along with a lower torso guard to not only guard the sides and back of the legs, but the front as well. It was held up by a black belt with a blue hexagon shaped buckle on it. The lower torso guard was colored blue and the front piece was black with a blue tip to it. His calf guards were blue and white, with square V-shaped knee guards. On his feet were armored sandals colored blue and his sandal socks colored black. His helmet was that of a traditional samurai construction; there were three black bladed spikes coming out of the front visor in a triangulated position, along with a sapphire jewel embedded in the center spike. On the back of the helmet was an armored ponytail that ended at his mid-back with two black fins at the end. His mouth guard was blue but shaped to look like an Oni grin, and on the sides of the helmet were two spikes sticking forward. To where the eyes were supposed to be, darkness was there until two glowing blue slits opened. He was the Pisces Samurai, but in secret to the world, was known as Jin Fujita.

Just then, a strange wind blew in, bringing an eerie chill to the air. Then all of a sudden, in a whirlwind of snow, a shadowy silhouette appeared as they spoke in a sweet yet eerie voice, "Nahahahahaha! You thought the train and the toys was the worst of it. Foolish mortals, this was only the tip of the iceberg!" The figure, now identified as a drop-dead gorgeous woman by the sound of her voice, and then disappeared in another wisp of snow, leaving the heroes confused and bewildered.

"That lady sure had a few screws loose." Frey said as he looked up at where the woman's image had disappeared.

"Well guys…" Aaron said getting their attention, "It looks like we've got our work cut-out for us again."

"We had better tell Luna, Artemis, and Ceros of this." Jin said as he changed back into his clothes. The others followed suit.

**TBC…**

**Authors' Notes:**

**Mike: Well, that was a good start. This is something me and Stone-man decided to start for the Holiday Season. It is December now, and the Holiday season is in the air so I felt that we should do something along the lines of the season. Of course, I can't take all the credit; Stone here did some good work too.**

**Stone Man: I have to admit, SullieMike and I are on a good start on this story. The weather down here is a little mixed up but it's starting to get freezing, so winter's not that far from here. SullieMike did great work; meaning I can't take all the credit for this story either. This is going to be refreshing for me, seeing as how I was taking a break from the FOTM saga in order to make sure I didn't grow bored of it in a short while.**

**So for the both of us, please Read and Review this story.**


	2. Last Minute Shopping

**SM and FOTM: A Christmas Caper!**

**Chapter 2: Last Minute Shopping**

**Elsewhere**

**The Floating Ice City Castle**

The palace was an eerie yet frozen chamber; not even the bravest or warmest of hearts could even last in there. Within there were items that were frozen and forgotten to the winds of time, including a few people who were frozen in place, with their faces twisted in frightened expressions. The only part of the room that even seems to hold any signs of life, was near the throne. It was an eerie throne indeed; icicles stretching downward and up the side, like jagged teeth waiting to eat anyone that came near it. And sitting on the throne was something much to be feared.

There was a snow blue woman sitting on the throne, someone in their twenties, and had the body shaped like an hourglass. She was wearing a white dress that bellowed over her feet with white and red striped fluff trim on the bottom. The sleeves clung to her arms, and ended at her wrists, but covered a portion of the top of her hands, with a white and red-striped fluff trim around the wrists. The dress had no shoulders, nor a neckline, meaning it was cut off the shoulders, but down from the chest to the bellybutton, was an exposure of flesh that showed a little of her cleavage and went down to her bellybutton, but was shaped like a snowflake design. She had a choker with a snowflake shaped jewel at the front and two snowflake shaped earrings, and an ice tiara on her head. Her hair was white and flowed down to her back, and looked hard and pointy like ice. But the eeriest thing about her was her eyes; they were black, with her irises being icy blue, and her pupils as black as the darkest regions of space itself.

This royal ice queen sat at her throne patiently, but seemed a little impatient as she remembered what had happened. A bunch of humans, dressed in what appeared to be the strangest outfits she had ever seen, and had wiped out half of her search party. Luckily at that moment, the remaining search team had phased from the floor and kneeled to their queen. They were an odd looking kind of species; there were some that resembled ghosts with parts of their insides showing, which were striped gray with black. They had elongated claws, spikes on their shoulders and spines, and their heads were skeletal and twisted upside down with only one eye that was purple.

The other goons looked like half humans, and half puddles of ooze colored gray, with razor sharp bladed spikes on their shoulders, and colored black. Their mouths were elongated and filled with razor sharp teeth, and their eyes nothing but black holes that gave anyone an eerie feeling.

The queen got up from her throne and walked towards the edge of the steps to where her throne rested on. The monstrous creatures all bowed before her with their heads held low as she stopped to look down upon them. She looked at them, with a strange glitter of hope in her eyes as she asked them, "Were you able to find the Crystal that I seek?"

The creatures shook their heads in a resounding no fashion, as one spoke in a raspy and eerie voice, "Our apologies, my queen. The crystal is nowhere to be found; it may be in the possession of some human that we have yet to identify."

And one of the human slime men quickly stated, "And it is nearing dawn even as we speak, my queen. We cannot venture outward, unless we risk death itself."

The queen shook her head as she stated, "Once we find the crystal and build the array on this planet's cold poles, we won't have to worry about the sun anymore." She then ordered, "Now rest and prepare for the next night." And the creatures did so as they phased or oozed right into the floor.

The queen sat upon her throne, and looked up at her skylight; it was opened at the vast blackness of space, turning away from the Earth as the sun began to peer out. She brought up her hand as her claw fingernails caressed the night sky, as she purred to herself, "It was so long ago…I was seeking a home for our people, and that I found this new world, called Earth. And on it, was a power source I could use to blanket it into eternal darkness." Her face then frowned as she sneered, "But then a giant bird made of fire, appeared out of nowhere, and with its heat and light, banished us from here."

She remembered it all too well: the fiery bird, its heat nearly destroying them all, and banishing them from their new world. She clenched her fist as she growled, "Ever since that day, all I could think about, was how and when I would claim this world for our own." She then chuckled, "But now the time is right, soon the earth will be covered in a cold deathly embrace of Eternal Darkness, and the Ectorunites will claim dominion on the stupid humans, once and for al. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!"

**Back on Earth**

**Hikawa Shrine**

Snow was falling down near the Hikawa Shrine, as it had as the time of winter and always had been. The snow that covered the shrine always made it look so serene and bright; though it always looked bright. But this wasn't now for the time to see snow falling; this was a time for answers. It was then, that the Inner Scouts, Rini and Hotaru were kneeling behind a Shinto Priestess. She was a raven haired beauty, dressed in a Shinto Priestess outfit; she was Rei Hino, the psychic of the Sailor Scouts and was also known as Sailor Mars, Princess of Mars. She was praying or chanting at a roaring fire and making different marker signs with her hands as she chanted, with much concentration, "I am the Fire; Fire is Light. I am the Fire; Fire is Light…"

The girls did this whenever they needed to know what or where their foe would strike next. And it was a good thing they were turning towards this first before they could ask Ceros, seeing as how Luna and Artemis knew nothing about this, nor did they remember. So it was up to Rei and her psychic ability of unprompted premonitions. Basically, it was up to her fire-readings now as she chanted at the fire.

Outside of the room, Aaron, Jin, Ian, and three other fellows were waiting patiently for the chant to end. Ceros was in a quandary while sitting on Aaron's shoulder. The other three were two boys and one girl trying her best to fit in as a boy. It was none other than Frey Asapin: he was a sixteen-year-old boy with deep tanned skin, light brown eyes, and long but short bottle blonde hair, with a braid that was five inches long on the right side of his head. Even after the short time that he was among them, he never once changed his hairstyle, considering most of the girls went gaga over him.

The other two were twin siblings; both brother and sister. One was Phumika Fong and the boy that was with her had short black hair, and was wearing a black sweatshirt with a red and white jacket, and blue jeans. He was also wearing sunglasses at the moment to hide his blind eyes. He was Domon Fong, the Gemini Ranger known as the Orion Archer, and the nicer, reasonable brother to Phumika Fong. He adjusted his glasses as he somehow looked to Aaron's location, aside from the fact that he was born blind, and asked, "Do you think Rei can find something that Ceros can't remember?"

Ceros, who was on Aaron's shoulder, overheard that and shouted, "Hey! Just because I can't remember what it is we're dealing with, doesn't mean I know anything less different!"

Aaron patted Ceros on the head as he calmly stated, "Either way, we're all in the dark as it is. If anyone of us right now could shed some light on the unknown right now, it's Rei." Truth still, he was still a little surprised by the whole psychic thing. He thought that stuff was something that sold books, but now after seeing Rei's work, he was a believer.

It was after that, the doors opened and Rei stepped out as she looked to the boys, "You can come in now; the reading's over." The boys followed Rei in and sat down near the girls; Aaron sat next to Ami as they figured in the same couple way. When the two looked at each other, they couldn't help but blush. They were still a little embarrassed about the whole relationship deal.

Darien was also along with them, as he was sitting with Serena at his left, and with Rini at his right. Everyone was all comfortable and sitting down as they awaited to what Rei had discovered, but unfortunately, all they got was a depressed sigh from her as they figured what it was that she was about to say.

Rei sighed as she finally answered, "I don't know what we're dealing with, or where it'll strike next."

Everyone moaned at this as Serena took a shot at Rei, "Now this is a letdown: Rei doesn't even have a clue as to what we're dealing with."

Rei shot a glare at her, but then replied, "I don't know who or what they are…but I did sense something on what their searching for." She then pointed to Serena as she finished, "From what I sensed from the creature's auras, they were sent in search for a silver crystal of immense power. Namely, the Imperium Silver Crystal seems to match that description pretty well."

Phumika was the one to ask about it, "But why are they after that? Isn't her majesty here the only one who can use it?"

Luna nodded at that, but replied, "Serena is the only one who can use it now. But that doesn't mean that someone in the future will try to steal it to use it."

Ceros hopped off Aaron's shoulder and landed on the floor as he got up on his hind legs and stated, "Well, then the next time that trouble rears its ugly head, Serena can't pop up next time."

Serena went bug eyed as she shouted, "WHAT? But why?"

Artemis pointed out, "If these creatures are after the Silver Crystal, then it's a safe bet that they'll put two and two together if they see you transform with it, or even use it at all." He explained that the best way to make sure no one found it was that Serena would lay low for a while, and have Mina lead the group in her stead. Although the idea of having a break and being a normal teenager was promising, Serena had gotten used to being Sailor Moon; completely hiding like this just didn't feel right.

But she reluctantly nodded as she replied, "Okay, I'll try and hold off the hero routine for a while." And with that, the meeting was adjourned.

**Later On**

Ami was walking on home, along with Lita, Ian, and surprisingly Frey. But Frey had a slight evil smirk on his face as he looked to Ami and asked, "Sooo….how goes the search for Aaron's Christmas present?"

Ami nearly stopped and choked there for a moment. She nervously smiled at the others as she stuttered, "Oh, well…I um…well, you see…", she then twiddled her fingers together as she answered, "I'll have you know, that I've found a great gift for Aaron."

"Oh? And what did you find for him?" Frey raised an eyebrow at her, with a look saying, 'Sure ya did.'

Lita and Ian looked at Ami with question at this as they awaited an answer from an embarrassed Ami. It was then that Ami finally cracked as she ran to Frey, and hugged him for help as she begged him, "You've got to help me! I don't know what to get him."

Lita crossed her arms as she shook her head, "See what happens when you spend too much time in a library." She then walked over to Ami as she helped Frey a little, by pulling her away from him, and hugging her instead. She smirked as she replied, "If you had trouble with finding him a gift before, why didn't you tell me when we were shopping?"

Ian raised an eyebrow as he asked, "You mean she didn't get a gift yet?"

Lita nodded in response, "She had a lot of trouble deciding what to get him." She patted Ami on the head as she continued, "I've got to admit, this was the first time I've ever seen her like this."

When Ami had finished her distressed state, she pulled away from her friend's embrace as she replied, "It's just that…well, I know that he likes motorcycles, so I wanted to get him a book on them." She then looked the other way as she finished, "But they ran out of them at the bookstore."

Ian winced at that as he scratched the back of his head, "Boy, that's pretty tough there for ya."

Ami shook her head as she asked, "What am I going to do? I don't have any more ideas."

Lita patted her friend's shoulder as she answered, "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll find something."

Frey simply shrugged as he gave his reply, "I might have an idea that could help…that is, if you want it."

The trio looked at him; each with a raised eyebrow as they looked at him questionably. They looked to each other with their own questions about this idea that Frey had. Usually he'd do something that would either make them angry, or cause them to go crazy at his actions. But now they felt he was genuinely trying to help one of their own. It was true what they say: the holidays do bring out the better in everyone.

Ami smiled as she hopefully blushed as she asked Frey, "Yes, please. What is it?"

Frey pulled something out of the bag that he was carrying and held it up. it was none other than a bottle of Sparkling Cranberry juice, as he smirked, "Rent a hotel room on Christmas Eve, or have either your apartment all to yourselves, have him drink down a huge bottle of Sake or something that'll get him really wasted, and when he's plastered enough, you have your way with him however many times you want."

There was a moment of silence, as Frey's idea rang into their heads and as the wind blew by. Then finally, that all sank in as Ami blushed madly at that suggestion and nearly fainted with steam coming out of her ears. However, Ian and Lita shot at him as they shouted, "WHAT THE HECK KIND OF IDEA IS THAT?"

Frey simply shrugged as he put the juice back in his bag as he simply smiled and snickered, "I was only giving my best answer for reacquainted lovers who've thought about each other for over a thousand years." He then gave Ami a sly and perverted smile, "I just thought that after a long time of being separated and finally dating, you'd two take it on a home run now."

Ami was blushing over fourteen different shades of red as she thought about it. The moment when two lovers who really love each other, embraced with one another, feeling the warmth of their kiss on their neck, the gentleness of their touch on the other's skin…

…she shook her head as she blushed even more as she cried out, "I…I'm not sure if I can…!"

Lita was on the verge of punching Frey out like that, but Ian beat her to it. He grabbed Frey in a massive chokehold as he growled, "You pervert! What kind of advice is that?" He then snickered as he saw Frey gasping for air, "I suppose you were gonna do the same thing for whoever you got that gift for, right?"

Frey gasped for air as he slightly loosened his friend's grip, "For your information, I got Hotaru…", but then stopped as he realized what he had just said.

Lita and Ami raised an eyebrow at that as Lita asked, "You got Hotaru something?"

Ami was also curious as she smiled, seeing that the tables had turned for Frey, "That sounds so sweet of you, Frey. What did you get for her?"

Frey, blushing like crazy now, shouted, "THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! THAT'S FOR HER TO FIND OUT, AND FOR YOU ALL NOT TO KNOW!"

Ian reached for the bag as he commanded, "Let us see!"

Frey pulled it away, "No way!"

And then a huge grab and pull began between Frey and Ian. Ian tried to grab the bag from him, but Frey had the upper hand on speed and was good at keeping away from Ian for a while. The girls just looked at this scene with much confusion at the first part. But then they laughed themselves silly as they saw their two male friends going at each other over something as silly as sneaking a peek at a gift.

However, Ami smiled at her friends with wanting to help her out. And even though Frey did something pretty…questionable…she knew he was trying to help out. Even though it was a pretty weird thing to give someone for a gift.

"Big sis!" She turned her head to see Sarah running up to them after a long trek up the stairs. She panted as she stopped in front of Ami. "I heard what happened downtown, is everyone alright?"

Ami smiled reassuringly at the girl. "We're all fine, Sarah. We managed to fight off the monsters."

Sarah sighed in relief hearing that. "That's good. I wouldn't want my big brother to miss seeing grandpa."

Ami's expression became surprised. "Your grandfather's coming?"

Sarah's expression brightened. "Actually, he just arrived!"

"What!? He just arrived?!" Aaron cried out as he dashed out of the shrine. "But didn't he say he wasn't arriving until tomorrow?"

"By tomorrow, he meant today." Sarah pointed out, confusing Aaron even more. She then rolled her eyes and then looked at him again. She smirked as she answered, "The international day line, silly!"

Aaron's eyes widened in understanding before laughing. "That definitely sounds like grandpa alright!" He then looked to Ami as he apologized, "Sorry, Ami, but we've gotta get going…in order to prepare for our granddad's arrival." He then muttered, "Knowing Dad he's still duking it out with the Christmas lights."

Ami smiled and nodded, "It's okay, Aaron.", but she winked at him as she stated, "But promise that you'll invite me over later on."

Aaron smirked at that idea as he nodded in agreement to that promise. Ever since she had met his grandpa, she had commented he was a nice person. And in truth, his grandpa had stated the same thing about Ami. He also joked around, saying that the two would be fated to do the same thing that Aaron's parents did: marry early when they reached college. That earned a lot of awkward moments for them.

**Later On**

When Aaron and Sarah had come back home, they had done their best to prepare for their granddad's arrival. It wasn't that their grandfather was trying to be a picky grandparent, but they felt it was an obligation to do that sort of thing. So after tremendous efforts, and quick speed, minus their missing father, they had gotten the place cleaned up for his arrival…which wasn't long as they heard knocking on the door.

Sarah brightened up as she shined and shouted, "GRANDPA'S HERE!", and zoomed over to the door to open it. when she did, she was greeted by a fellow in his mid sixties, in great shape, with short white hair and a finely short trimmed beard, with a warm smile and blue eyes. He was dressed in a white turtleneck, brown jacket, blue jeans, and brown hiking boots. Sarah jumped at him with a fierce hug, which he returned to her as she squealed with delight, "Grandpa Ben! You came, you really came! This is gonna be the best Christmas ever!"

Grandpa Ben lightly chuckled at his granddaughter's energy as he patted her on the head, "Heheheh! It's good to know you've got plenty of energy in you, Sarah." It was just then, Aaron came walking in, and Ben smiled at seeing his only grandson; the first child that his daughter had given birth to.

"It's good to see you again Grandpa Ben." Aaron said, embracing his grandfather Ben Masters.

"It's always good to see my only grandson." Ben said as he patted the boy's back before he saw Ami standing there with a smile. "And it's always good to see your girlfriend too." He then embraced the girl, who blushed but she hugged back as though he was her own grandfather. After the hugs, Ben looked around, slightly confused; he then looked to his two grandkids and asked, "Hey, where's that no-good son-in-law of mine? Shouldn't he have come up to greet me with you kids?"

CLANG! BASH! CRASH!

The three turned around, to see a walking mummy made of Christmas lights and wires. The creature moaned and grunted as it began to shiver, much to everyone's confusion at this. It was then that they heard the voice of somebody familiar as he shouted, "I'M STILL TRYING TO RIG UP THESE DARN LIGHTS!", it was Aaron and Sarah's dad, still in his ongoing battle AND THE WEIRDEST THING IS I CAN'T FIND THE STUPID EXTENSION CORDS!"

The three family members looked at him with sweat drops going down the side. Aaron just sighed in an exasperated tone as he stated, "The War is still on."

Ben just shook his head as he crossed his arms, and gave his son-in-law a crinkled half-smile, "Some things never change for you, Alan. You still can't set or rig the lights up when it's Christmas."

Sarah shook her head as she smiled to her dad, "Well that's Dad for you."

Alan sighed exasperated as his shoulders slumped, "Well, now that we've established that, COULD SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME HERE!"

**Elsewhere**

**Darien's Apartment**

It was a tall building complex, designed for condominiums; small apartment buildings for people so it was more like an apartment building. But this was taking place on one of the top floor apartments. In this one room, which was Darien's apartment, the whole gang, minus Aaron and Ami, were attending a private meeting concerning the two in particular.

"So what you're saying, Ian…is that Aaron had spent almost his entire life having a Christmas with just his dad, sister, and grandfather?" Darien said as he sat next to Serena. Shortly after Aaron and Ami left with Sarah back to their place, Ian had gathered all of the scouts and Fellowship to discuss Ami and Aaron's predicament. It wasn't that much difficult considering that Aaron hadn't found a gift for Ami, but was really stunned was that Ami hadn't found a gift for Aaron at all.

"Yeah and I was thinking…maybe we should form a gift of our own for the both of them, considering this will be their first Christmas with each other." Ian replied.

"I think that's a great idea!" Serena exclaimed.

Mina shot up from her seat as she shouted, all enthusiastic and starry eyed, "Yeah, let's do it! Those two are getting off to a good start! I'd say we give it a little more of a nudge!"

Jin straightened his glasses as he calmly stated, "In your case, you'll make it more of a battering ram than a nudge."

Mina glared at the kendo boy as she grumbled, "Who asked you?"

Artemis merely mumbled, "Though I think Jin has a point on that, Mina."

Mina pouted and became teary eyed at her cat companion as she pouted, "Artemis…."

Frey, for once in his life acted serious, looked to them all as he stated, "Enough joking around already. I think we should try to think up whatever we need and make it work." Everyone, a little stunned by that, shook their heads by this as they started to plan it out. Little did any know that hidden invisibly, one of the Ice Queen's minions was keeping a close eye on them.

The creature had kept an eye on Serena particularly, with much interest on her broche. It had sensed a very powerful energy coming from her, and sniffed it out to her. It had found what its mistress had ordered it to seek out, now the problem was…how to get it from her.

**TBC**


End file.
